Page 42 of Dark ’N’ Deadly

The meaning of the doctor’s words held more than just her brother’s prognosis. The prognosis was a bitter reality they were facing.

There was no possible way her brother could do the controlled delivery. Which meant he couldn’t work off his pending charges, and—

The same thought she’d had over and over in the last two days kept repeating itself: This can’t be happening.

She swallowed at the only obvious outcome.

He would have to go to jail.

…

Hours later, Eric paced outside the hospital, waiting for Tess. Tiger walked beside him as he led his dog to the small grassy area adjacent to the visitors’ parking lot.

He dragged his hand through his hair, knowing every strand had to be sticking straight up at this point.

Woof.

Lamppost light lit up his dog’s dark, almond-shaped eyes, casting them in a freaky golden hue that made him look possessed by the devil.

“Yeah, I know, boy.” He rested his hand on Tiger’s head, allowing the soothing properties of his dog to flow through him, but it wasn’t working so much tonight. “You like him, too, don’t you?”

Tiger uttered a gentle bark. His dog might not understand the words, but he knew Eric was mulling over something heavy.

Even with the air conditioning on the entire time, Tiger had been cooped up in the Interceptor for too long, so Eric unclipped the leash, giving his dog free rein to do his stuff.

As they made their way back to his SUV, an engine rumbled, and Dayne’s Interceptor pulled up alongside him. The window rolled down. “He out of surgery?”

Eric nodded. He’d already updated Dayne on Jesse’s prognosis, and the fact that the kid would be completely out of action for at least another 24 to 48 hours, then taking it easy for several weeks.

“Everything went fine, but he’s running a low fever. I’m waiting on Tess. She wanted to be there when he came out of it.”

“Glad to hear he’ll be okay,” Dayne said.

“Yeah, me, too.”

“I hate to dump more shit on the pile.” Dayne blew out a heavy breath then tipped his head to where Tess was coming through the ER doors and walking toward them. “The Helena, Montana PD confirmed that the theft of explosives was a legitimate theft, not just some that went missing or was misplaced. Someone broke into the bunker and made off with Domox and Trimadet. No leads.”

“Great.” Not. “At this point, we have to assume they’ve got two out of the three bomb components they need.”

Eric opened the rear door of his SUV and waited for Tiger to trot over and hop inside. The night air was cooler than before, and he left the door open, resting his hand on Tiger’s neck. “Whoever is expecting to take delivery of the drums will only take delivery from Jesse. They have a photo of the kid to verify his identity, and they’re planning on peppering him with questions that only he’ll know the answers to. Swapping him out for an undercover agent won’t work.”

“With Jesse out of commission, are we fucked?” From his friend’s tone, he understood the question was pitched to kick-start a brainstorming session, because it wasn’t in either of their natures to give up.

“Maybe,” he answered truthfully. “We’ll just have to figure out a way to unfuck it.”

“I know a way,” Tess said, joining them and reaching out to give Tiger a sound petting. Eric didn’t like the determined look in her eyes. “I’ll take Jesse’s place. I’ll do the delivery.”

He stiffened. Tiger instantly went on alert. A low growl came from the back of his throat as he stuck his head out the open door, searching for whatever had made Eric edgy.

“Easy, boy,” he said to his dog, turning back to Tess. “No way.”

“Why not?” She planted her hands on her slim hips. “I’ve already thought this through, and I have a plan.”

“You have a plan?” he shouted, not caring when several hospital visitors waiting by the doors turned to listen. There was no way he’d let her do something so dangerous. Having Jesse do it was bad enough, but the kid had a criminal charge to work off. Tess didn’t. Although he had to admire that her love for her brother ran deep enough that she didn’t hesitate to put herself in harm’s way for him. He lowered his voice then got in her face. “You’re not doing the delivery. I won’t let you.”

“I am, and you will.” That look of determination in her eyes seemed to magnify by a hundred. “It’s the only way you have to find out who’s building this bomb. If you don’t, hundreds could die. I know you can’t live with that, and neither can I.” She crossed her arms. “Jesse isn’t physically capable of working off his charges, so I’ll do it for him. Then we’ll be out of your house, out of your hair, and you can continue with your investigation and arrest these people.”

“How, exactly”—he mimicked her by crossing his arms—“do you plan to pass scrutiny?” He dropped his gaze to her feet, then ran it back up to her face. “Because there’s no way you could ever pass for a man. Not even if these people are legally blind.”